My Thoughts:
First, let’s start with the venue – I LOVE the James Ballentine VFW – Post 246 (A.K.A. the Uptown VFW). You might remember I saw Vision Video (RIP) there once. Anyway, I’ve been to a bunch of shows there, and it’s a pretty rad venue. Drink prices are as expected, the space is nice and open, and the VFW is next to the venue hall, so you can get food and stuff, which is cool.
But…on to the real reason we’re all here – the show!
So, the premise of this show is that it reunites several of the founding bands of the Minnesota Hardcore scene. And David Roth’s film MN Hardcore plays in bits between each set. If you want to check that doc out (and you should – it’s really interesting!), you can see it here. Thank you PBS for being so awesome!!
Here’s the official blurb for the show:
“A night of 1980’s Minnesota hardcore punk featuring a reunion from several of the bands that were there. Minnesota’s first wave of HC/Punk bands that played Goofy’s Upper Deck, the 7th Street Entry (original stage), Garage Productions Shows and opened for countless touring hardcore/punk bands of the time. Supporting bands like Husker Du, Dead Kennedys, Raw Power, 7 Seconds, Suicidal Tendencies, The Freeze, Youth Brigade, DOA…”
Our MC for the evening was none other than Mr. Dale T. Nelson! If you’re unfamiliar, let these words from the MN Hardcore documentary clue you in: “He is one of the main connections between 1960s garage rock and 1980s punk rock.” He’s important in the scene, okay?
The show was DJ’d by Lori Barbero (OMG YOU GUYS), and DJ Rock the Monkey.
The first band to take the stage was Eye Mind. They are an excellent live show – highly recommend. They played a solid set. It was really energetic and lots of fun. I also chatted extremely briefly with bass player Michelle, and she was super nice.
Next up was Red Meat. Red Meat was…absolutely manic. It was a super fun, super fast and heavy set.
Third in line was Church Picnic. My partner has a family member in the band, so we definitely wanted to support. Also, they did an incredible set. It was really high energy, and felt much more polished than you’d expect from a band that hasn’t played together in about 40 years (same goes for all these bands, actually. A lot of them not only haven’t played together in decades, but were scattered all over the US and flew in to do the show!).
Fourth up was Outcry. Despite the recent passing of frontman Jack Heidenreich, this was a truly memorable set. With James Cook on vocals, this was a jackhammer of a set. It was HEAVY. They brought so much energy to the crowd.
Next up was Iron Fist. Another truly great show. Again, super high energy and lots of fun. Paddy Mulloy certainly knows how to work a crowd.
Oh, did I mention it was already after 10pm at this point? On a school night? Très punk rock. And we’re not done yet.
Rounding out the night were Virgin Whores. These guys are relative newbies, formed in 2003, and honestly, I wasn’t familiar with them. They did a hell of a show though, and seem to have a pretty devoted following.
This was such a fun night, and I am really grateful to have been a part of it. Just feeling the love these people still have for each other and their music after so many years was worth the price of admission.
